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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729997">No Myths Attached</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarok89/pseuds/ragnarok89'>ragnarok89</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dark, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Early Work, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fear of Death, Gen, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Internal Conflict, Introspection, LGBTQ Themes, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Mythology - Freeform, Open to Interpretation, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, POV First Person, Walks In The Woods</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:35:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729997</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarok89/pseuds/ragnarok89</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stay awake. Stay alert. Stay focused.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Myths Attached</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cold wind continues to blow down the empty street, rustling the few leaves that were left on the almost bare trees. It even threatened to knock over a few left out trashcans, but despite some worrying rattling they stood strong. </p>
<p>I watch the scene from my front porch, tugging my jacket closer as the wind started to bite through it. I walked in line with the cracks in the wooden floorboards, the sides of my feet even with the small lines, and my eyes roving over to every interesting item outside, wondering how there can be so much stuff, so many small trinkets and places that are meaningless at first glance. </p>
<p>But a small voice, a woman who would dare to tame a beast, whispers in my ear, murmuring encouraging words, convincing me that I need to stop, that I need to look to my left, need more than anything to gaze at the empty streets that are out in the open. </p>
<p>I blink, tilting my head, and stand there, frozen, as a flash of blue and silver fabric and high-pitched giggles warps into my mind. It's gone before I can take my next breath and I sigh.</p>
<p>Sleep. I needed sleep, to rest and heal. Everything aches, every muscle and joint screams when I move. </p>
<p>Part exhaustion, part injury. </p>
<p>Stay awake. Stay alert. Stay focused.</p>
<p>That has been my mantra for days. Now that I’m back home again. </p>
<p>I don’t know what to think, but what do I know exactly? </p>
<p>I am two-headed, a double consciousness cratered in my mind, and yet I am of one eye blind. </p>
<p>These eyes are dark, large irises resting within shadowed sockets, skin looking far too akin to scales, and the look of rage. Or perhaps subdued rage would be burning within these eyes, eyes that suddenly morph into a balefully bright green, a young face darkening with anger as I stare back at this reflection. </p>
<p>I have no idea how to breathe.</p>
<p>No, I’m steel-spined, taking no BS from anybody and sewing my mouth shut so no one would say anything to me or take any words from me. This form, what I reside in now is unmovable, unshakable, cold as stone. </p>
<p>Quiet as a mouse, yet I would thrash in such beastly ways when a single action or word from another spews out stupidity and vileness. I would switch from the nice, well-meaning student who never utters a peep to a creature who will tear out any idiot’s throat out with no mercy for any heinous act that they have done. </p>
<p>It would be on their heads if they could not control themselves, it would them paying the price if they did not shut their mouths, and if they mistook ‘no’ for ‘yes’. </p>
<p>Each part on its own is draining, but together it is too much.</p>
<p>
  <em>The walls were so white that they became blue, morphing before my very eyes. My hair was ragged, auburn curls tangled around my face, my cheekbones suddenly sunken from possibly malnutrition, the paper-thin gown chafing against my skin, making angry red marks across my arms.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I wrapped them around my knees, shivering from the cold sweeping in from under the padded door, and I gaze at the steel cover placed at the top of it, wondering when the dark lady will show her smile. I curl her toes, listening to the sound of nails scraping against the sheets, and tilt her head. The voices whisper to her, shouts fills with fury and whispers filled with hope, and I slapped my hands over my ears to quell them, rocking back and forth, muttering to myself in the dark. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Flashes of dark eyed monsters linger behind my eyelids, hazy images of obsidian dresses and red roses, and the ghost of butterflies in my stomach as invisible lips press against my own. I can almost taste it-</em>
</p>
<p>Rust covers everything now, so different from how my mind remembers it, and my heart swells with a fresh wave of grief each time a memory slips from my grasp, another moment stolen from me.</p>
<p>The sun is setting, but it would be a little while longer before it was completely dark out. I stand up with a sigh, deciding a quick walk around the block would help clear my head from all of those thoughts. </p>
<p>I jog down the steps, setting off at a quick pace to keep out the cold.</p>
<p>Stepping onto the sidewalk, just for a fleeting moment, the dark lady is standing in front of me, her voice sounding like my own.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again, this was a short story I wrote for a writing class back in university.</p>
<p>Comments and thoughts are appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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